iPhone - Siri and apps

background image

Siri and apps

Siri works with most of the built-in apps on iPhone 4S, and uses the apps it needs to help you
with your requests. Siri knows when you’re using an app, so you can refer to elements on the
screen. For example, when reading a message in Mail, you can say “Reply, I like it.”

Phone

Use Siri to make a phone call or start a FaceTime call. You can refer to your family, friends, and
associates in Contacts, or say which phone number to use.

For example:

Call Jennifer Wright mobile

Â

Call Susan on her work phone

Â

Call 408 555 1212

Â

Call home

Â

FaceTime Lisa

Â

Saying both the first and last name usually makes it clear who you want to call, but you can say
just one or the other and let Siri figure it out. Siri first checks your Favorites, and if a match is
found, calls that number. Next, Siri checks all your contacts. If there’s more than one person with
the same name, Siri asks which one you want to call. Siri also asks which phone number to use if
there’s more than one listed.

You can also ask Siri to call a business in your contacts.

44

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

So that Siri knows who you’re referring to when you ask to make a call, make sure to introduce
yourself to Siri. See “Telling Siri about yourself” on page 41.

Stop a phone call you started
with Siri

Before Phone opens, press the Home button . If the phone call is in
progress, tap End.

Music

Ask Siri to play a song, album, or playlist. Pause playback, then resume. Set the mood by asking for
a certain type of music.

Or just say “Play” and let Siri choose for you. If you don’t recognize the song, ask Siri “What’s playing?”

Here are some ways you can play music with Siri:

Play The Light of the Sun

Â

Play Trouble

Â

Play Taking Back Sunday shuffled

Â

Play Alicia Keys

Â

Play some blues

Â

Play my party mix

Â

Shuffle my roadtrip playlist

Â

Play

Â

Pause

Â

Resume

Â

Skip

Â

To hear similar songs to the one you’re listening to, say “Genius.” (Siri creates a temporary Genius
playlist, but it’s not saved.)

Messages

You can send text messages, have Siri read new messages to you, and respond to messages
you receive.

Include the name of the person to text, or wait for Siri to ask who you want to send it to. You can
text to a phone number, and you can text more than one person at once.

To send a text, say things like:

Tell Susan I’ll be right there

Â

Send a message to Jason Russell

Â

Send a message to Lisa saying how about tomorrow?

Â

Send a message to Susan on her mobile saying I’ll be late

Â

Send a message to 408 555 1212

Â

Text Jason and Lisa where are you?

Â

45

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

To see or hear messages you’ve received, you can say:

Read me my messages

Â

Show my new texts

Â

Read it again

Â

If you’ve just received a text message or if you’re reading one that you received earlier, you can
simply say:

Reply that’s great news

Â

Tell him I’ll be there in 10 minutes

Â

Call her

Â

Siri understands the context and knows who to address the reply to.

Before sending a message you’ve composed, Siri displays it or reads it back to you to make sure
it’s right. When Siri asks if you want to send the message, you can say:

Change it to: Call me tomorrow

Â

Add: See you there question mark

Â

No, send it to Bob

Â

No (to keep the message without sending it)

Â

Cancel

Â

Want to tag your message with a smiley face? Say “smiley face,” of course. :-)

Editing messages
If you’re creating a text message with Siri but it’s not exactly what you wanted to say, you can
ask Siri to change it. If it’s pretty close, you might want to edit it instead. When Siri displays the
message for your review, tap the message bubble to open it in the Messages app. Then you can
edit the message by typing or dictating. See “Dictation” on page 55.

Calendar

Add new events to your calendar, change existing events, or find out what’s on your schedule.
When you create an event, you can specify a time, a place, a title, and the people you want to invite.

46

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

To create an event:

Set up a meeting at 9

Â

Set up a meeting with Michael at 9

Â

Meet with Lisa at noon

Â

Set up a meeting about hiring tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Â

New appointment with Susan Park Friday at 3

Â

Schedule a planning meeting at 8:30 today in the boardroom

Â

To change or cancel an event:

Move my 3 p.m. meeting to 4:30

Â

Reschedule my appointment with Dr. Manning to next Monday at 9 a.m.

Â

Add Lisa to my meeting with Jason

Â

Cancel the budget review meeting

Â

To ask Siri about events:

What does the rest of my day look like?

Â

What’s on my calendar for Friday?

Â

When is my next appointment?

Â

When am I meeting with Michael?

Â

Where is my next event?

Â

When you create, change, or ask about an event, Siri displays information about the event. To get
more information, tap the event.

Reminders

Siri’s a great way to set up a quick reminder.

To create a reminder, say things like:

Remind me to call mom

Â

Remember to take an umbrella

Â

Remind me take my medicine at 6 a.m. tomorrow

Â

Remind me when I leave to call Jason

Â

Remind me to finish the report by 6

Â

Siri asks for information it needs in order to create the reminder, including date, time, and location.

47

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

Including location info lets Siri remind you about the item when you approach or leave a location.
A location can be your current location (“here”), or an address in Contacts. To let Siri know about
your home and work locations, see “Telling Siri about yourself” on page 41.

Remind me to call my mom when I get home

Â

Remind me when I get to the office to call my wife

Â

Remind me to pick up flowers when I leave here

Â

Remind me to check the time when I get back here

Â

Reminders are added to the default reminder list.
Set the default list for Reminders: Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Default List.

To keep a list without setting a specific time or location to be reminded:

Remember to buy milk

Â

Add eggs to my groceries list

Â

If Siri asks when you want to be reminded, you can say “never.”

If you have a list visible in Reminders, you can add to it just by saying “Add”:

Add eggs

Â

When you create a reminder with Siri, Siri displays it for you to confirm.

You can confirm, cancel, or let Siri know you want to change something:

Change the time to 7

Â

Make it Tuesday instead

Â

Change that to: Get the car washed and waxed

Â

Move it to my Work list

Â

Move it to my Personal list

Â

Once you confirm the reminder, you can tap it to open the Reminder app and see the reminder
and its details.

Maps

Use Siri to find a location, get directions, and see traffic conditions. For example:

How do I get home?

Â

Show 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino California

Â

Directions to my dad’s work

Â

What’s the traffic like getting home?

Â

48

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

Find coffee near me

Â

Find some burger joints in Baltimore

Â

Find a gas station within walking distance

Â

Good Mexican restaurants around here

Â

If you ask about a location, Siri displays it on a map. Sometimes Siri goes directly to Maps, but you
can tap the map to open the Maps app if Siri doesn’t open it.

Siri might respond with a list of choices. For example, if you ask about burger joints, Siri looks for
hamburger restaurants in the vicinity and sorts the list by proximity. If you ask for the best burger
joint around, Siri sorts by rank. To sort the list another way, just ask “which is the best?” or “which is
the closest?”

Mail

With Siri, you can send mail, check your mail, and respond to mail you’ve received.

A mail message requires at least one recipient, a subject line (say “about”), and message text. But
don’t worry about getting it all down in one breath—Siri will ask for what’s needed to complete
the email.

To email someone:

Email Lisa about the trip

Â

New email to Susan Park

Â

Mail Dad about the rent check

Â

49

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

Email Dr. Manning and say I got the forms, thanks

Â

Mail Lisa and Jason about the party and say I had a great time

Â

To check your mail:

Check email

Â

Any new email from Michael today?

Â

Show new mail about the lease

Â

Show the email from Lisa yesterday

Â

To respond to email:

Reply Dear Susan sorry about the late payment

Â

Call him at work

Â

Before sending an email, Siri displays or reads it back to you so you can make sure it’s right. When
Siri asks if you want to send the email, you can say:

Change it to say: Check’s in the mail

Â

Add John (to include another recipient)

Â

Change subject to: This weekend

Â

Editing email
If you create an email with Siri but it’s not exactly what you want to say, ask Siri to change it. If
it’s pretty close, you can edit it instead. Tap the message to open it in the Mail app, then edit it by
typing or dictating. See “Dictation” on page 55.

Weather

Use Siri to get weather information. If you don’t give a location, Siri assumes you mean your
current location. If you don’t give a time, Siri shows today’s forecast, but you can ask about the
weather anytime in the coming week.

What’s the weather for today?

Â

What’s the weather for tomorrow?

Â

Will it rain in Cupertino this week?

Â

What’s the forecast for this evening?

Â

How’s the weather in Tampa right now?

Â

How hot will it be in Palm Springs this weekend?

Â

What’s the high for Anchorage on Thursday?

Â

What’s the temperature outside?

Â

50

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

How windy is it out there?

Â

When is sunrise in Paris?

Â

Stocks

Use Siri to quickly get quotes for your favorite stocks. Get market capitalization, or P/E ratios. Ask
about specific indexes, and the situation in general. For example:

What’s Apple’s stock price?

Â

What’s Apple’s P/E ratio?

Â

What did Yahoo close at today?

Â

How’s the Nikkei doing?

Â

How are the markets doing?

Â

What’s the Dow at?

Â

Clock

Use Siri to quickly set an alarm for the morning, a timer for that cake in the oven, or find out what
time it is at your overseas destination.

To set or change alarms:

Wake me up tomorrow at 7 a.m.

Â

Set an alarm for 6:30 a.m.

Â

Wake me up in 8 hours

Â

Change my 6:30 alarm to 6:45

Â

51

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

Turn off my 6:30 alarm

Â

Delete my 7:30 alarm

Â

When you set an alarm, Siri displays the alarm so you can see that it’s correct. You can tap the
switch to turn the alarm on or off. Tap the alarm to open it in the Clock app.

To ask about the date and time:

What time is it?

Â

What time is it in Berlin?

Â

What is today’s date?

Â

What’s the date this Saturday?

Â

Siri displays a clock for you. Tap it to open the Clock app.

To use the timer:

Set the timer for ten minutes

Â

Show the timer

Â

Pause the timer

Â

Resume

Â

Reset the timer

Â

Stop it

Â

52

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

Siri displays a timer. Tap it to open the Clock app.

Contacts

Siri uses your entries in Contacts to find addresses, look up phone numbers and other information,
or tell you about someone’s birthday. Siri even knows who your relatives are by looking at your
personal contact card. See “Telling Siri about yourself” on page 41.

To ask about contacts, you can say:

What’s Michael’s address?

Â

What is Susan Park’s phone number?

Â

When is my wife’s birthday?

Â

Show Jennifer’s home email address

Â

What’s my brother’s work address?

Â

To find contacts:

Show Jason Russell

Â

Find people named Park

Â

Who is Michael Manning?

Â

If you’re not sure which phone number to use for a contact, ask Siri to show the person’s contact
information. To call, just tap a number. Other items are active as well—tap an email address to
start a new email message, or tap the FaceTime button to speak face to face. “Find John” may help
you narrow down the list of possibilities, if you know it’s John but can’t remember the last name.

53

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

Notes

Use Siri to verbally jot down notes, or look up notes you’ve already made. Say things like:

Note that I spent $12 on lunch

Â

Note: check out that new Alicia Keys album

Â

Find my restaurant note

Â

Create a reading list note

Â

Add Tom Sawyer to my reading list note

Â

Siri displays the note for you to review. To edit the note, tap it. Siri opens the Notes app for you,
and you can edit the note by typing or dictating. See “Dictation” on page 55.

Safari

You can do a web search with Siri—specify which search engine to use, or search a site like
Wikipedia. For example:

Search the web for Bora Bora

Â

Search for vegetarian pasta recipes

Â

Search the web for best cable plans

Â

Google the war of 1812

Â

Search Wikipedia for Abraham Lincoln

Â

Search for news about the World Cup

Â

Bing Alicia Keys

Â

Siri opens Safari and performs the search you request. If you don’t specify the search engine, Siri
uses the one specified in Safari settings. Go to Settings > Safari.

WolframAlpha

Ask Siri to provide some information or perform a calculation, and Siri might refer to
WolframAlpha (www.wolframalpha.com). Responses often include related info.

Some sample questions and requests:

How many calories in a bagel?

Â

What is an 18% tip on $86.74 for four people?

Â

Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?

Â

How long do dogs live?

Â

What is the Gossamer Condor?

Â

54

Chapter 4

Siri

background image

What’s the square root of 28?

Â

How many dollars is 45 euros?

Â

What was the Best Picture of 1983?

Â

How many days until Christmas?

Â

How far away is the sun?

Â

When is the next solar eclipse?

Â

Show me the Orion constellation

Â

What’s the population of Jamaica?

Â

How high is Mt. Everest?

Â

How deep is the Atlantic Ocean?

Â

What’s the price of gasoline in Chicago?

Â